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Fare Boxes.

No. 134,321. Pafented DecA 24, 1872.

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Fare Boxes. No. 134,321. Patented DeC.24,1s7-2.

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Fara Boxes.

"No, 134,321. Patented nec. 24, 1872.

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IMPR/OVEM ENT iN FARE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent Ilo. BSQLSQ, dated Decen1ber24,187:2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J onN 1B. SLAWsoN, of

'New York, in the county of New York and State of yNew York, have invented certain .Improvements in Fare-Boxes, of whichthe. following is a specificatiomreference being had tothe accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 represents a view, partly in elevation and partly lin section, of a" fare-box having my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the same taken through the dotted line Figs. 3 and 4 represent sectional views of modifications of the devices used for preventing the abstraction of the fare from the receiving-apron when once deposited in the box and arrested for inspection, being substitute devices for the slides d in the channel E of Figs. l and 2; Fig. 5 represents a similar view to that illustrated in Fig. 1, but showing a modification of the change-gate 5 Fig. 6, a vertical section through the line y y; and Fig. 7 represents an elevation of the improved boX as intended for use in mild climates or in the summer time, the changegate being removed entirely.

Heretofore fare-boxes for use in street-cars, omnibuses, and other public conveyances have been provided with two openings, one in front and the other in rear, for the convenience of the passengers and the driver to examine the fare as deposited. A bok for the collection of money at toll-gates, theaters, Sac., and over shopcounters, has also been made, in which but a single glass was used, through which the party depositing the money, as well a's the agent appointed to superintend the collection, could inspect the money when deposited, as in the case of the money-box patented in England in 1852 to one George A. Nixey, and numbered 136 5 but such a box, as constructed and operated, was not calculated for use in cars, etc., as such was unprovided with a means of preventing thefraudulent abstraction of the fares when deposited by the driver or passengers in collusion with` him, besides which the devices used for transferring the money and keeping several payments in sight at one and the same time are such as are not adapted for use in cars where prompt inspection is required in order to accommodate the multitude of. passengers whichpatronize them.

l For these and other. reasons here unnecessary to be dilated upon,vthese boxes as *now constructed never have been, and without entire reorganization never canbe, successfully used for the collection of fares in cars and other public conveyances.

To remedy these difficulties, and to simplify the construction of tare-boxes by `providing `them with a single openingY through which both passengers and driver can inspect the fare, are the objects of the first part of my invention; and it consists in combining, with an inspection-chamber provided on its upper side with a single transparent medium, such as a glass plate, wirefscreen, or perforated plate, a

device lor devices so arranged as that, while communicating with the interior of the inspection-chamber, it shall at the same time act as a guide to the fare thereto and as a means of preventing its felonious abstraction afterward therefrom, and a device under the control of the driver or conductor, by means of which the fare, o n inspection had, can be transferred directly to the general receiving drawer or chamber. The second part of my invention consists in combining, with a fare box, an opening so arranged as that the driver or conductor, through it, can make change for the passengers whenever desired; and, lastly, in combining, with the fare-box and opening above referred to, a change-gate forguse in cold, rainy, or dusty weather.

To enable others skilled in the art to make, construct, and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe it in detail, omitting a particular'description of such parts of va farebox as are old and non-essential to a full understanding of the present improvement,

In the drawing, the box proper is illustrated as consisting of two principal chambers, A and B, divided or separated from each other by a tilting-apron, C, similar to that represented and `described in my patent of August 7, 1866, and is so arranged as to be operated by the driver or conductor through kthe medium of the lever a.

2 I temeer removed without taking the box to pieces.-

The general receiving-chamber B, as in others, is provided with a locked drawer, b, into which the fare on being inspected is directly precipitated by the driver, he for this purpose simply pulling the lever a. E represents a throat or channel leading to the inspection-ch amber A, and is provided with a mouth, c, through which the passengers deposit their fare in the box. Vere this channel to be left unprovided with devices properly constructed and arran ged to prevent the felonious abstraction of the fare from the arrest-apron when once deposited in the box, the driver could extract the whole fare through the mouth by simply allowing the fare to accumulate in the inspection-chamber A vand afterward extract it at his leisure by means of a cleft-stick or other fraudulent device, and of whichthere are many that would accomplish it. To prevent this Ipropose to use -devices such as those shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

consisting of one or more shelves, d, suitably arranged for the purpose, and provided with teeth on their lower edge to strip the fare from the device used to extract it 5 or these shelves may be used without the teeth in the same manner as shown in my patent of August 7, 1866, and reissued April 2, 1872; but I prefer to use them in connection with the teeth; or a rotating apron composed of a wheel provided with two or more blades, F, Fig. 3, may be arranged in the channel E in such manner as to close the latter when the wheel is stationary, the wheel with its blades being operated by the vautomatic closing of a door, G, which covers the mouth c of the box. In this case the passengers operate these devices when they pay their fare, they for this purpose pushing the door back in order to open the mouth to deposit their fare. The fare deposited and the passengcrs hand removed, the spring H by its recoil forces the door back over the mouth of the box. As a rule, we inte-nd to use two springs,

' H, instead of one, to insure the proper workin g one-half of a revolution where two fan-blades,

F, are used, and one-third for three, and onei'ourth of a revolution for four blades, and so on. This movement causes the fare deposited by the previous passenger to be precipitated down the channel E to the inspectipnehamber A, and places the next blade of the wheel in position to arrest the next fare 5 or the lever I may be so operated and connected through its pawl with the ratchet-wheel of the apronshaft-the ratchet-wheel for this purpose being reversed-as that the apron shall be operated on the closing instead of the opening ot' the door, so that each passenger will not only be the means of paying his own fare into the box, but, indirectly, of depositing it out of harms way in the inspection-chamber.

The rst mode of operating therotatin g wheel and self-closing door is the same as that described and shown in the patent granted to me J une 1l, 1872, and for further particulars concerning its construction and operation reference is hereby made to that patent 5 or, instead of either of the above plans,a hinged door (see Fig. 4) may be arranged in the channel E to cover the mouth c of the box; and, as in the last case, is intended to be operated by the passengers in the act of paying their fare.

The frame G of the door G is hinged at h to the wall of the channel E, and is so arranged ythat when pushed back to deposit a fare it will, on being released from pressure, fall back by virtue of its own gravity to cover the mouth, it at the proper point being arrested, as shown in the drawing, by the upper edge of a stationary slide, J. The mouth of the box, in this case, is provided with an upwardly-projecting shelf, o. Against the face of the frame G of the door bears the one end of a curved spring guide-plate, K, whose lower end is made fast to the outer edge of a plate, L. This plate L is secured to the back and side walls of the channel.

As the door Gis forced back the spring-plate K follows it, thereby closing all communication in its rear between the mouth c and the inspection-chamber. The spring K and plate L- may be made in one piece, if desired. To the front wall of the channel E is hinged an apron or guide, M. To the upper end of this guide M is secured another curved guide, N, in such manner that when the door is closed its lower end will project over the lower end of the spring-guide K, so that at no time is there ever a direct communication in a vertical plane between the mouth and the chan* nel below that leads to the inspection-chain ber. The lower edge of each of the guides may be provided with saw-teeth, as in Fig. 1. The hinged plate M is connected to the door-frame G by means of a 'connectingrod, O, so that as the door is opened the plate M, moving in unison with its frame, is caused to close the channel entirely while the mouth is open. The shelf J is made long enough to protect the up per end of the curved guideKfrom any instru mentwhich can be thrust through the mouth. The devices shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are represented as being ready to be substituted for the upper part of the channel in Figs. l and 2, by removing that part above the line 1 1 in Fig. 7. Various other modes of protecting the fare in the inspection-chamber might be described, but these are deemed sucient to illustrate the principle involved in this case. In -the `side Z of the inspectionchamber A opposite the mouth of the channel E is inserted a glass light, l?, for-the transmission of light from the lamp-chamber Q, and which (Q) is secured to the side l and frame m of the box. The lampchamber is provided with a chimney, Q', which is made to terminate on the outside of the carin order to carry oli' the gases generated by the lamp. The inspection-chamber A is also provided in front and rear with small openings s protected by a transparent medium for the transmission of light to illuminate the fare, that it may be readily inspected through the glass plate D. Immediatelyabove the chamber A is arranged an opening, R, (see Fig. 7,) through which the passengers can obtain change from the driver or conductor. In this form the box can be used in mild climates and in the summer time. In cold weather, however, a change gate or door, V, will be inserted, as shown in Figs. l, 5, and 6. These change-gates are made to swing inwardly or outwardly, and close automatically by the action of a spring suitably arranged for the purpose. As the gateW is opened abell is struck by the action of a trip.-lever,and which, acting on a hammer, causes the latter to strike the bell, thereby notifying the driver that change is wanted, and vice versa when he is prepared to deliver the change. Below the frame-work of the change-gate is inserted a glass plate, S, so as to close the opening between the latter and the glass covering C of the inspection-chamber A. The shape of the opening R may be varied in any suitable mani ner, either for useful or ornamental purposes. T represents the door, Fig. 7, through which access is had to the lamp-chamber Q for trimming and other purposes.

The operation of the box will be obvious to all familiar with the use of fare-boxes, for which reason it is not deemed necessary to describe it at length, as the mode of paying the fares by the passengers and the mode of operating the arrest-apron by the driver are the same as in other boxes already in use or patented by me.

A fare-box thus constructed possesses many advantages over the old style of boxes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A fare-box provided with an opening, R, from front to rear, and with an inspectionchamber, A, arranged substantially as described, wlien the latter is covered by a transparent medium, D, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

2. In "combination with the subjecbfnatter A of the preceding claim, the mouth c and chan nel E, when the latter is so arranged as to enter the inspection-chamber A at or near its side, and when provided with a device or devices arranged to prevent felonious abstraction of the fare from said inspectionchamber, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with a fare-box provided with an openin g, R, from front to rear, a changegate, V, operating substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

p J. B. SLAWSON.

Witnesses:

A. MCCALLUM, D. Gr. STUARr. 

